North Penn loses inaugural County Line Cup to CB South

HATFIELD TWP. >> North Penn lost to Central Bucks South, 7-0, Wednesday night in the inaugural County Line Cup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The Knights controlled the tempo for the opening five minutes, but once the Titans scored the momentum shifted.
Reis Braccio got South on the board just over six minutes into the game. He carried down the right side and ripped a wrist shot into the back of the net.

The Titans took full momentum near the end of the first period. James Schuler made it 2-0 with two minutes left before intermission and Joseph DeLauretntis extended it to 3-0 in the final 12 seconds.

“After the first period we were down 3-0.” North Penn head coach Kevin Vaitis said. “Especially since they got one towards the end of the period, that took the wind out of our sail a little bit there. They really took control in the second period, really out-shot us 18-2 in the second and 4-0 on the scoreboard.”

Titans’ Frank Carter, Tyler Boylan, Drew Kiriloff and Schuler each scored in the second. Schuler’s was a beauty. His goal made it 7-0 and came on a short-handed breakaway. He pinged a wrister off the post and into the net with 14 seconds left in the period.

North Penn managed 19 shots on goal in the game. It was the first time all season the Knights have been shut out after scoring eight, two and eight goals, respectively, in their first three games.

“Defensively, CB South just played very strong,” Vaitis said. “Between their ‘D’ and their forwards — the back-checking that they had — we really didn’t have a lot of chances offensively in the zone. Credit to their defense for shutting us down.”

Positive takeaway

Despite the loss, North Penn can take some positives away from Wednesday night. CB South is the Suburban High School Hockey League Continental favorite and the Knights controlled the pace for the first six minutes and played to an even 0-0 tie in the third period.

“The way we finished and the way we played in the first period,” Vaitis said of what went well. “I told the guys that’s the level of intensity that we need to have throughout the game every game for the rest of the season. We’re coming together here as a team. It was a great first period we had — one of the best periods we’ve played. We’ll look to continue to build on that game in and game out. That will be good for us.”

Goalie switch

North Penn has been alternating between Chris Maiden and Andrew Zanoni in goal. Maiden entered Wednesday’s game against CB South with a 2-0 record and three goals against. Andrew Zanoni entered with an 0-1 record and five goals against.

Zanoni got the start Wednesday and Maiden took over midway through the second period.

“Both of them have been playing at roughly the same level I would say most of the year,” Vaitis said. “We’ll continue to go back-and-forth, keep both of them sharp and as we get toward the later part of the season, hopefully somebody steps up just like the rest of the guys — forwards and ‘D.’”

Expectations

North Penn sits at 2-2 through four games and 1-1 in SHSHL Continental play.

“Our expectations are high,” Vaitis said. “We have a lot of returning players and we’re looking to keep getting better game-in and game-out. We want to be playing our best hockey at the end of the season when playoffs and Flyers Cup come around.”

Andrew Galetta leads the Knights in scoring with seven points on four goals and three assists. Joshua Kaufhold (one goal and four assists) and Nathan Oh (two goals and three assists) each have five points.

Wissahickon stays perfect

Wissahickon continued its perfect season with a 10-4 win over rival Upper Dublin Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice.
The Trojans improve to 5-0 overall this year and 5-0 in SHSHL Varsity A play. Upper Dublin falls to 1-3 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Sean Garry scored four goals for the Trojans and Bryan Garry netted a hat trick. Bryan Garry also had three assists. Alex Myhrman added two goals.

Ari Nordlinger led the Cardinals with a pair of goals and Oren Serafin and Chris Barbera each scored once.